


Of Golden Suns and Silver Souls

by Culebra_del_Sol



Category: RWBY, 黄金の太陽 | Golden Sun Series, 黄金の太陽 失われし時代 | Golden Sun: The Lost Age, 黄金の太陽 漆黒なる夜明け | Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, 黄金の太陽 開かれし封印 | Golden Sun
Genre: Action/Adventure, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Multi, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27051127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Culebra_del_Sol/pseuds/Culebra_del_Sol
Summary: Torn from their world at the climax of a war, a group of heroes find themselves in a new world under a broken moon.
Relationships: Mut | Matthew/Stella | Sveta, Ruby/Himi
Kudos: 1





	1. Of Red Roses and Bamboo

‘Well, this is rather inconvenient.’

This was the thought going through the head of a young woman found in a certain shop late one night. Were a passerby to peer inside, they would have seen that said lady had a very unique look to her, with her long, charcoal-black hair styled in a loose “hime” cut, framing ruby-red eyes and a pinkish, stylistic eye tattooed on her forehead. Her fashion sense consisted of a small red silk vest over a white-silk yukata with voluminous sleeves and red highlights on the hems, framed and accented by gold threads and beads, held closed by a large white obi sash and a decorative lavender sash, and a pair of baggy red hakama pants, white tabe socks and wooden sandals. In her left hand was a large redwood staff in the shape of an ankh, a large topaz gem set inside the loop at the top with smaller, sharpened gems at the points. In her right was a plastic bag filled with ‘Dust’ crystals of various shapes and types.

And pointed right in front of her decidedly unamused face was a baton-sword held by a scruffy black-suited thug in shades.

Throughout the store, the young lady could see several similarly-dressed men robbing the store, directed by a lanky, flamboyant orange-haired man with green eyes, dressed in an extravagant white coat with a black ascot, black slacks and dress shoes and a black bowler hat with a red strip over the rim, pointing to-and-fro with a metal cane and lit cigar as he was intimidating the elderly shopkeeper. Out of the corner of her eye she could see one of the goons accosting the only other customer in the store, another young lady with short black-red hair and silver eyes, who was largely obscured by her vibrant red cloak.

“Where d’ya think yer lookin’ at, brat?! Gimme all the Dust ya have, and I won’t hafta carve that tacky brand off yer face!”

Despite his angry bluster, the thug couldn’t help but flinch back when his “victim” turned back to give him a deathly glare. Despite being maybe sixteen years old, the young lady had the eyes of a vicious warrior twice her age, and while it must have been a trick of the light, he could have sworn that the “tacky brand” was giving him a scathingly affronted look, before she closed her eyes and heaved a tired sigh. After a few seconds she reopened them, going back to the disinterested “regal” expression she had before.

“Whatever had happened to put you on this path, I cannot help but pity you.”

That was all she said before giving the mobster a jumping high-kick to the face, dropping her staff to the side as he staggered back from the surprise and pain. As she landed back on her feet, she thrusted her free hand out, where large bamboo shoots rapidly shot out from underneath her sleeve, punching into her foe with enough force to send him flying through one of the windows, just as the red-cloaked girl drop-kicked another goon straight out of another window. Upon landing outside, the girl is revealed to be wearing all black-and-red, with a gothic corset dress with long sleeves, a frilly combat skirt held by a belt with a silver rose pin, dark stockings and black leather combat boots. Reaching underneath her cloak, the fifteen-year-old took out a scarlet rectangular box, before twirling and unfolding it into a very intimidating hybrid of a mechanical scythe and high-caliber sniper rifle.

The commotion drew the attention of everyone else in the store, with the underlings gaping dumbly at the two teenagers and the mob boss looking about in exasperation before gesturing at them, snapping at his accomplices with a “Well? Get them.”

On that signal, half of the goons rushed outside to deal with the red-cloaked girl, while the rest converged on the tattooed one, who had gently set her bag on the ground as her shoots receded. As the first two goons reached the girl she sprung back to her feet and flung out her arms, sending out a flurry of nettles into their faces. As the two fell down clutching their faces in agony she flung out an arm at the next, a set of vines shooting out to ensnare his head, before a vicious yank sent him crashing into the floor. The fourth one managed to swing at her but hit nothing as she crouched down into a sweeping kick, knocking his feet out from under him. By the time he managed to get back up to his feet, the girl had retrieved her staff and promptly thwacked him across the face, knocking him out cold. The last two thugs, having been smart enough to hang back to see what she could do, shared a hesitant glance before trying to flank her. Yet even that fell flat as she simply charged at the one on her left, swinging her staff upwards to catch him on the chin before thrusting the butt behind her to catch the other in the gut, followed by a low sweep to topple both of them to the ground. The young woman then ended the fight by harshly stomping her feet onto the face of the one in front of her and pivoting on top of it to slam the looped head of her staff into the other thug’s chest.

With her current adversaries dispatched, the tattooed girl frowned in contemplation as she looked outside, catching the tail-end of the red-cloaked girl’s flurry of swings as it launched the last goon into a nearby trashcan. ‘How odd. These criminals had Aura, yet I was able to beat them with very little trouble. Back home it would have taken three times as many strikes to take down the average bandit with the same effort. Have I really become that strong without noticing, or were they just incompetent?’

The ringleader of this gang, having slipped towards the mouth of an alley, was of the opinion that it was the latter given the way how he merely looked at his devastated henchmen in disgust. “Truly, you were all worth every cent.” Tossing away his cigar as he spat out his sarcastic approval, the thief shifted his gaze to the two girls. “Well Red, Bamboo, it’s been an eventful evening, but I’m afraid this is where we have to part ways.” With that, he pointed the bottom of his cane towards ‘Red’, pressing a hidden button to have the bottom pop off into a targeting reticule. With the press of another trigger, the newly revealed flare cannon shot out a large fireball towards his target, forcing her to dodge out of the way as he retreated.

Seeing the thief trying to escape, ‘Bamboo’ turned to the shopkeeper. “I’m going to chase after him. Will you be alright by yourself?” Upon receiving an affirmative nod, the girl dashed out of the shop and into the alley, where she saw ‘Red’ use the recoil from her weapon to launch herself onto the roof. Inspired by that display, she then extended her left arm, causing her vines to rapidly shoot out and latch onto the building’s rain gutter, before retracting with enough speed to send her flying up to her companion. The sudden force, however, nearly wrenched her arm out of its socket, which caused her to stumble as she landed hard. ‘Oww! Damnit! That worked out better in theory. I’m going to have to practice that move later after this.’

The flamboyant felon was obviously less-than-pleased with this development. Muttering a curse under his breath, he turned back to face the two pursuers, seeing ‘Red’ helping ‘Bamboo’ back on her feet just as a large VTOL arrived behind him. Reaching a hand into his coat, he withdrew a large, dull-red crystal and tossed it directly at the two girls with a malicious smirk. With a cheerful “End of the line, you two!”, he fired another flare at the rock, causing it to violently explode as he jumped into the vehicle’s open hatch. Turning back to see his handiwork, the thief was dismayed to find the two unharmed, courtesy of a transparent purple shield generated by a third arrival: a mature and well-endowed woman with blonde hair tied in a braided bun and stormy green eyes. Her ensemble consisted of a cream-colored pleated blouse with long puffy sleeves, a stylized cape that reached down to the small of her back that was black on the outside and navy blue on the inside, a black pencil-skirt that reached down to her knees, brown stockings and black knee-high boots with bronze heels. Completing the look was a pair of black oval-shaped glasses and tear-shaped emerald earrings. The newcomer could be called “stern disciplinarian” personified, a description only enhanced by the riding crop clenched in her right hand, glowing a faint purple just like the shield in front of her.

She was also evidently someone the thief recognized, as he gained a somewhat panicked expression before dashing towards the cockpit. Shouting “We’ve got a huntress!” the moment he arrived, he quickly slid into the pilot’s chair as his associate rushed to the hatch to take care of this complication. Stopping in a position that would leave their face concealed by shadows, the thief’s associate was revealed to be a woman wearing a classy red dress with stylistic orange trim, black high heels, red bridal gauntlets and glowing amber eyes. Glaring at the trio of interlopers, the woman made a gesture with her hands, which suddenly combusted as a hail of fireballs materialized to rain down on them. Recovering quickly from their scramble to dodge, ‘Red’ counter-attacked first by embedding her scythe into the roof to act as leverage as she levied shot after shot at the fire witch, only to be deflected by a barely-visible force in between her hands. Seeing this, the huntress waved her wand to ensnare the rubble from the explosion in her purple aura. With a flick, the rubble coalesced into a spear before being launched at the aircraft, piercing through one of the wings and destabilizing it. This caused the woman to stumble somewhat, but not enough to fully reveal her face.

Seeing this, the tattooed girl simply cursed to herself, lacking any truly ranged options to take advantage of this moment. Not wanting to lose this chance, she prepared to use her vines once again to try and tether herself into the aircraft, only to collapse with a strangled cry, drawing the attention of the other combatants. It felt as though a molten spike just suddenly wedged itself into her forehead, the pain was so intense!

“Aaaaauuughh!!” ‘Wh-what is this?!’

Soon a flurry of vague images began to rapidly flash under her eyes: a scared little girl curled under a table; a raging fire devouring a house; a pale-black wraith taking her hand; a flurry of blood-soaked glass; a bug-like demon lunging at her face; a metal puppet sliced by its own strings. The girl was too disoriented by the pain and lack of context to do much of anything. Seeing this, the fire witch capitalized by gesturing a burning hand, causing a strange burning glyph to appear underneath the incapacitated fighter. Sensing the danger, the huntress quickly used her powers to pull both girls towards her before raising a shield over them, just before the glyph violently exploded. The huntress flinched hard as the shield cracked from the force, but both managed to stand firm. By the time the smoke cleared enough for the three to see however, the aircraft was already escaping, too far for any of them to catch up to. Sighing at this development, the woman lowered her wand and the shield before stepping back from her impromptu allies, a stern glare settling on her face as she turned to face them. ‘Bamboo’ seemed to slowly regain her bearings from that sudden migraine and manhandling while ‘Red’ was looking at her in… admiration?

“Woooow~… you’re a real huntress. CanIhaveyourautograph?!”

The girl’s answer was in the form of the huntress frogmarching the two young ladies to the nearest police station.  
\---------------  
Shortly after in one of the station’s interrogation rooms, the huntress could be seen pacing to and fro at one end of a table, chastising the two who were rather awkwardly sitting at the opposite end. ‘Red’ had a contrite look on her face as she was dressed down while ‘Bamboo’ kept up a rather impressive poker face, their weapons and scrolls.

“I hope you two realize just how much trouble you’ve landed yourselves in. Your actions tonight had placed yourselves and others at serious risk!”

“Buh- b-b-b-but they started it! They’re the ones who came in threa-mmph!”

The red-cloaked girl’s emotional rebuke was cut short by her companion slapping a hand over her mouth. With a disturbingly calm glare the girl wordlessly ordered the distressed reaper to let her do the talking. Turning back to the huntress, she gave a respectful nod. “In our defense, ma’am, those ruffians had threatened to rob us and commit physical harm the moment they arrived, without any provocation. Are we not allowed to defend ourselves from such a threat?”

The older woman was decidedly unphased, however. “You are, and had you done just that and waited for the law enforcement to arrive than there wouldn’t be a problem. But there is a difference between defending yourselves and endangering yourselves. Impulsively chasing after the leader as he retreated without any regard for the possibility of a hidden accomplice, an ambush or possible bystanders was beyond reckless. Were it up to me, you would both be getting a pat on the back, and a harsh slap on the wrists!” She emphasized this by slamming her riding crop down on the table near ‘Red’s’ hand, scaring a high-pitched yelp out of her. Even ‘Bamboo’ flinched from the sudden and loud action. Immediately after, however, the huntress merely sighed with a resigned expression on her face. “However, someone else wishes to speak to you both.”

As if on cue, the door opened to reveal a sharp-faced man around the same age as the woman. His appearance consisted of tousled silver hair and wood-brown eyes under shaded spectacles, a black unzipped suit-jacket over a forest-green vest and light-green shirt, black suit pants and shoes and a green cowl with a silver-and-amethyst cross pinned to it. In one hand he carried an ornate cane, the lower two-thirds a lacquered black wood with a pointed silver endcap, with the upper third a patterned silver handle with a knuckle-guard, the bottom area flaring into a disc with clockwork gears inside a glass window and a clear-white jewel at the pommel. In his other hand he held… a tray of chocolate-chip cookies?

The red-eyed girl pondered on that for only a second before lurching over the table, another lance of pain stabbing through her head as another vision presented itself. Thankfully it didn’t hurt nearly as much as the previous one, but the litany of pictures that accompanied didn’t make anymore sense: a vaguely similar man in royal garb storming a massive stonework tower; a despondent maiden with fair features learning to smile; the pale wraith from before snarling at a ghostly image of the royal superimposed over the man with the cane; a quartet of feminine silhouettes with the color of the seasons.

“H-hey, are you alright?!”

Looking up to see the concerned faces of the other three in the room, the tattooed girl was quick to wave away their concerns. “I am alright. I sometimes suffer from migraines, and I merely forgot to take my medicine for it tonight. Please, do not worry yourselves.”

‘Red’ seemed to believe her immediately, although the adults looked rather skeptical of her claim. Neither of them chose to pursue her about it, however, as the man set down the cookie platter before taking a seat at the table. “Well, if you insist, then I shall take your word for it. But for now, please, help yourselves. It has been an eventful night and I find it’s often harder to relax when on an empty stomach.”

Both girls were reluctant to accept the offer at first, out of both shyness and skepticism, but eventually ‘Red’ took the plunge and tentatively ate a cookie. Seeing this, ‘Bamboo’ made to grab one herself…

“Ah, hey!!”

…Only to flinch back as the other girl proceeded to inhale almost the whole platter. For her part the cloaked girl had the decency to look ashamed as she offered the very last cookie to her.

Chuckling as the offended girl roughly snatched the treat away, the man leaned back as he laid out a ‘scroll’ on the table, the mobile device playing footage of the foiled robbery recorded by the store’s security cameras. “Now then, I have a few questions I would like to ask you two in regards to tonight’s events, the first being why you decided to fight the criminals off and putting yourselves at risk instead of letting them rob you.” He then gestured at the silver-eyed girl. “Let’s start with you, miss Ruby Rose.”

Put on the spot, the now-named Ruby floundered for a second. “W-well, it was the right thing to do! I’m studying at Signal and want to get into Beacon to be a Huntress, like my sis Yang is doing and how Mom and Dad and Uncle Qrow did!”

“Studying to be a Huntress? You wish to fight monsters, then?”

“I want to help people! Before Mom… went away, she always read us bedtime stories about Huntsman and Huntresses. And yeah, fighting the Grimm is a big part of it, but the stories were also all about how Huntsman and Huntresses are supposed to help people, to give them hope and to try and make the world better for everyone. I couldn’t just let those mean crooks just rob the store blind, they would have all just ran away and continue stealing if we did. That’s not what a Huntress would do!”

The actual huntress in the room had an appraising look in her eye as the man developed an intrigued, if not slightly pleased expression on his face upon hearing this. “Interesting. And how about you, miss Himi Kinboshi?”

The tattooed girl gave a small nod upon being addressed. “It’s ‘Kinboshi Himi’, sir. My parents were from a village that had a tradition of putting your family name first before your given name. And my reasons are very much the same. Before it was lost, the people of my first home believed in doing good whenever you can, especially if you have the power to help those less fortunate than you. That is why most of my adoptive family is entering into Beacon this year as well, and why I hope to apply next year. And even had I not been one of the people being threatened, just letting those villains get away with their crime when I had the power to stop it would have been beyond shameful.”

Now the man had a small, genuine smile on his face. “Well, it is very reassuring to hear the people of this new generation upholding such values, although you have my condolences for your loss, miss Kinboshi. Tell me, where did you young ladies learn to fight like this?”

Ruby piped up first with an eager expression. “From my Uncle Qrow! I mean, I said I’m in Signal Academy right now, but for a while I was just totally garbage at it, I couldn’t figure out how to even swing a sword right, but then my uncle taught me how to work a scythe like his weapon Harbinger, showed me a few moves and even helped me make my baby Crescent Rose, so now I’m all like ‘tuwaooo-caCHAW! Wapow! Wuoa!’”

Everyone else shook their head in bemusement as Ruby started to do mock kung-fu moves for emphasis at the end. With an amused smile the white-haired man turned towards Himi, who took the hint. “As for me sir, I have rather little formal training. While some of what I know I was taught by my parents and my adoptive siblings, the rest I made up from fending off the Grimm, bandits and other dangers as we traveled for Vale.”

After pondering for a minute, the man then turned to look at the only other adult in the room. A few moments passed as the two engaged in a silent conversation before they turned back to the young girls, the man giving amused smirk as the woman heaved an exasperated sigh. “Very well, one last question for you two: do either of you know who I am?”

Himi was non-plussed at the question, but Ruby answered with “You’re Headmaster Ozpin.”, a note of awe in her voice. This caused Himi to almost fall out of her chair in shock, whipping her head between the two in disbelief.

“Headmaster Ozpin?? Of Beacon Academy?!”

Ozpin’s smirk only grew bigger as he asked, “And you both wish to attend my school?”, causing Ruby to nod with such eagerness one would think her head would pop off, while Himi answered with a rather dazed “Y-yes…”

“Well, okay then.”

‘Huh?’  
\-----------  
About an hour later, after a deluge of questions, disbelief and phone calls, a battered black jeep pulled up near the police station where Himi and Ruby were waiting outside. Sitting in the driver’s seat was a muscular middle-aged man. Tall, tanned and rugged with long tomato-red hair and caramel-brown eyes, he wore a black tank-top underneath an open brown vest, fingerless brown gloves, frayed blue jeans and sandy brown boots. His hair was swept back into a low ponytail that reached his tailbone, with a tattered and faded leather headband holding back a few stray bangs from his face. Upon seeing the girls, the man rolled down the window and leaned out to wave at Himi. “Hey, Princess! Heard you had a bit of a wild night tonight!”

The tattooed girl just groaned in response, causing Ruby to giggle in amusement. Shaking her head, Himi turned towards the other girl with a small smile on her face. “As crassly as my guardian might have put it, I must say it certainly was an eventful evening. It was a pleasure meeting you, Ruby.”

“Same to you, Himi! I’ll see you at Beacon!!”

The two girls waved goodbye as Himi climbed into the jeep’s passenger seat, Ruby turning to leave towards an approaching motorcycle driven by a woman with long blonde hair. Once the door closed, the driver began gently ruffling the young girl’s hair with a grin, chuckling as she swatted his hand away. “Well look at that, you made a new friend all by yourself, and on a first-name basis too! You’re finally breaking out of that shell of yours, eh princess?”  
His chuckling just grew louder as she elbowed him in the arm in response, leaving the girl pouting and staring out the window as he started the car back up. “Oh, be quiet, Eoleo, and take us to the house. There is something important I have to tell everyone.”

“About foiling a robbery and getting into Beacon early as a result? Everybody else knows already, I told them right after I go-

“It’s not that, Eoleo. I had visions tonight.”

That brought the man up short for a minute, the only sound coming from the road as they drove towards their destination. “…Well damn. That is important. What were they about?”

The young girl looked out towards the night sky, the stars mantling the bizarre and broken remnants of the moon.

“I… do not know, exactly. All I know is that it was nothing good.”


	2. Of First Impressions and Explosions

“Well, that is rather… disconcerting.”

“I know, right? We’ve been here for over two years now and just now we’re getting a vision, only instead of showing us how to get home it’s a vague and depressing picture book? A-oof!! Hey!”

“Don’t be rude! It’s not her fault that’s all she could see!”

“I’m more concerned about how you were in pain during these visions. Has that ever happened before when you used the Eye, Himi?”

“No, it has not. But we are in a new world, and much of our equipment was weakened due to how we got here. Maybe it’s having trouble attuning to the spirits of this land?”

“We can ponder about this later. The question is, what should we do now?”  
\---  
It had been about two weeks since the foiled robbery, and things had been rather hectic for Ruby. They had had to deal with a whirlwind of events, from having to explain the altercation to her families, to then reassuring her overprotective family, then dealing with the process of transferring to a prestigious academy, packing to move into said academy and some very frantic last-minute training and supply shopping. This ran the young girl ragged to the point she forgot to try and contact her new friend, a fact she didn’t realize until just after she boarded one of the many “Bullhead” aircrafts headed towards Beacon.

Ruby’s moan of depression as a result did not escape her big sister’s notice. A tall and buxom young lady with lilac eyes and wildly long blonde hair reaching down to her thighs, her fashion sense consisted of a tan jacket with puffy sleeves that ended just above her midriff and was unzipped enough to reveal a bright yellow crop top with a black emblem resembling a burning heart on the right. Below that was a pair of black spats underneath a brown leather belt accentuated with pleats and pouches, brown leather boots and orange over-the-knee socks, with the right sock rolled down. An orange scarf around her neck, large golden-yellow bracelets and a gray bandana around her left knee completed her ensemble. Now, the blonde absolutely hated seeing her sister sad, so after taking one look at her expression, she immediately knew she had to cheer the red-themed girl up. Her method?

“Ooooh, I can’t believe my baby sister’s coming with me to Beacon!!”

“Aaugh-pfff! Y-Yang, air! I need air!!”

To start by smothering her sister in affection.

After a few seconds of panicked flailing Ruby managed to break free from Yang’s sudden bear-hug with her best attempt at a scowl, only her to smile at her sister’s adorable pout. Having had her moment of teasing celebration, the blonde sister decided to take the direct route: “What’sda matter, Rubes? You got to skip two whole years to attend your dream school, you should be bouncing off the walls right now!”

To her slight worry the red-themed girl looked off to the side with a guilty look on her face. “That’s just it, Yang. I skipped ahead two years, meaning I’m leaving most of my friends back in Signal behind. And the one friend had coming with me I completely forgot to call at all!”

“To be fair, Ruby, it had slipped my mind entirely as well. Going straight into the academy after being home-schooled is a surprising amount of work.”

Turning to the unfamiliar voice, both sisters find said friend Himi walking towards them. She was dressed in the same outfit as the night of the robbery, only this time she had someone new next to her: a young, well-built and muscular man about Yang’s height with sky-blue eyes and short spiky hair as red as a bright cherry. His outfit was made up of a burnt-orange short-sleeve tunic underneath a dull gold breastplate, a pair of sandy-brown breeches tucked into wide leather boots and fingerless brown gloves. He was carrying a pair of rather sizable suitcases behind him while looking about the aircraft with a look of small wonder, before gawking in surprise at Ruby suddenly glomping his companion.

“Himi! Ohmigawsh I’m so sorry I meant to call you I really did but things got so busy I had to tell Yang and Dad about what happened and then they gotmadsoIhadtocalmemdownandthenwehadtoprepareforBeaconandUncleQrowcamebyand-“

“Ack! Ruby! A little space, please!?”

“Oh, sorry…”

The two bystanders couldn’t help but chuckle as the red-themed girl hurriedly let go of Himi, who merely dusted herself off. “Thank you. And really, Ruby, it isn’t a problem. I just told you I forgot to try and call you myself, didn’t I?”

“…Yeah, but still…”

At this point the blonde sister decided to introduce herself. “Well, I’m glad to see there’s no hard feelings between you two! I’m Yang Xiao Long, Ruby’s sister and soon-to-be best huntress of Beacon! It’s nice to meet you, Himi. And the hunk beside you is…?”

Said ‘hunk’ could help but preen at the compliment, dropping one of the suitcases to rub his nose and smirk. “Heh. Name’s Tyrell. Tyrell Fireheart, one of Himi’s adoptive brothers and the baddest hunk you’ll ever meet, little lady.”

“Oh-hoh, I think you’d better watch it, Matchhead, this Little Firecracker might be too much for you to handle.”

A sudden noise interrupted the two’s banter, causing them to turn and see Ruby comically gagging while Himi had a vaguely disturbed look on her face. Seeing their confused faces, the tattooed girl deadpanned: “Please stop flirting with each other. There is already one person losing their lunch, and I would rather not add to that number.” She punctuated this by making a vague gesture in the direction of a blonde, scraggly-looking teen boy hunched over a trashcan, who was indeed losing his lunch. Which, needless to say, did not amuse the two.

“Ah, hey! I’m not that bad!”

“Man, it’s bad enough Karis gives me grief, now you?!”

“You make it too easy.”

Tyrell’s pouting “Feh…” at that retort sent Ruby into a giggling fit, which everybody else couldn’t help but join in a minute later. Their laughter ended just as a hologram of the strict huntress from the robbery appeared on the nearby windows. “Greetings, and welcome to Beacon Academy.”

Yang gave Tyrell a sidelong glance as she asked, “Who’s that?”

“My name is Glynda Goodwitch.”

“Oh.”

The recording continued, “You are all among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses of the world, it is your duty to protect it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training needed to uphold it. Now, upon your arrival, you will be given a map of the academy grounds, after which we ask you all to make your way to the auditorium for the welcoming speech headed by Headmaster Ozpin at 7:00 P.M. Please do not be late.” Upon finishing, the hologram vanished, allowing the passengers an impressive view of the city of Vale, the surrounding countryside and of Beacon Academy.

Tyrell couldn’t help but whistle in amazement upon seeing the academy grounds. “Phweeeeuw~. Man, that place is huge! They should’ve called it Beacon Fortress, instead!”

That was a sentiment many shared given how the academy looked like a modernized castle. Situated upon an impressive cliffside overlooking the ocean, a large clockwork-esque tower with a peak reminiscent of a lighthouse served as the center of the grounds, surrounded by a multitude of smaller towers and fortified buildings connected by sky bridges. Bordering the large cliffside were many circular docking bays for aircraft, with a seaport located at the bottom of the cliff with a set of trails leading up to the grounds. A large paved avenue served as a path from the ports to a large amphitheater surrounded by two colonnade rings, located in front of the central tower. Further along the cliff was a large emerald-green forest dotted with ancient and decrepit ruins. Completing the academy grounds was a multitude of sentry outposts and gun encampments pointed towards the forest and sea, armed and ready to guard against any encroaching grimm.

After touching down at one of the docking bays and receiving the aforementioned maps, the quartet started making their way to the amphitheater, with Himi and Tyrell gawking at the architecture, Yang sizing up some of the surrounding students and Ruby…

“Ohmigawsh that student has a collapsible staff! *gasp*! And he has a fire sword! Oh, is that a railgun?!”

…geeking out over the other students’ equipment.

Tyrell couldn’t help but laugh at the red girl’s enthusiasm. “Geez, you’re really into weaponry, arent’cha?” 

“Well yeah! They’re like extensions of ourselves! You could see all the different kinds of stories people have just be looking at them, how they’re made, how they work. It’s like meeting new people, but better!”

Himi and Tyrell were a little bemused by Ruby’s answer, while her sister rolled her eyes with an exasperated yet indulgent smile. “As fun as drooling over their weapons can be, you do need to actually talk to the people themselves if you want to make friends, Rubes.”

Ruby only just tilted her head in a confused manner as she turned to Yang. “But why would I need new friends? I got you, Himi and now Tyrell, don’t I?”

Put on the spot by that question, the blonde brawler awkwardly looked to-and-fro as she scrambled for an answer, completely missing the slightly guilty glance the other two gave each other. A few seconds later, however, she apparently came up with something as she turned back with a plastered-on smile. With an exclamation of “Well… actually myotherfriendsareherenowbye!”, she dashed towards a nearby group of people she supposedly knew, ditching the trio and sending her sister into a spinning whirl.

“Whoa-whoa-whoa! Yang!”

“Ah! Ruby, look out!”

Himi’s warning unfortunately came too late as her friend stumbled into a cart of expensive-looking luggage, causing them to topple them over and popping a few open, which caused the Dust containers inside to scatter everywhere…

“What are you doing?! Do you have any idea the kind of damage you could’ve cause!?!”

…and drew the ire of their owner.

Said owner could be considered “Rich Girl” personified. A petite young lady with a borderline-royal aura, her skin and long hair were so pale she could have been mistaken for an albino were it not for her pale blue eyes, with the left one marred by a shallow vertical scar. She was clad in a snow-white blouse over a frilly black corset with a knee-length ice-blue skirt ending in a snowflake-themed frill and a white scarf serving as her belt, a similarly-colored bolero jacket with voluminous sleeves and a scarlet frilled collar and a pair of ice-blue high-heeled boots. Completing the look was a tear-shaped gem on a silver necklace, a small silver tiara holding her hair in a right-leaning ponytail that reached down to her hip and a stylized snowflake emblem emblazoned on the back of her jacket. Holstered at her right hip was an ornate high-quality rapier with a revolving mechanism built into the hilt reminiscent of a magnum, shielded by a quartet of small dull blades in a cross formation. Finally, in her left hand was a vial of red powdered dust and a borderline apoplectic expression on her face. Everyone, even the manservants hauling away her luggage, wound up taking a step back as she thrust the vial into Ruby’s face and started shaking it.

“This is highly refined, highly volatile fire Dust mined from one of the highest quality mines of the Schnee Dust Corporation! And you just crashed into cases full of it! Are you insane?!”

“A-ah…”

To everyone’s misfortune, the vial was not fully secured, which led to an ever-growing cloud of dust to assault Ruby’s nose. Himi noticed this and attempted to garner the irate girl’s attention: “Ah, excuse me miss, but…”

“What are you, brain-dead?! Dust! Fire, water, lightning, energy! Is any of this getting through your thick skull?!”

Unfortunately she was too far into her tirade to notice any of this, leading to the red-cloaked girl to violently sneeze and set off both the cloud of dust and several nearby vials. The resulting explosion of fire, lightning and ice left everyone stunned and covered in multi-colored soot. The snow-themed girl was the first to recover, and seemed to reach new levels of pissed. “Un-be-lievable!! This is exactly what I was talking about! Are you even old enough to be here, you little cretin?! Do you even know who I am!?!”

The ranting was cut short however as Tyrell, having had enough of the rich brat’s attitude, interposed himself between her and the now-tearing Ruby. “Hey, lay off, princess! It was just an accident!”

“It’s heiress, actually.”

The quartet turned to the new voice to see a pair of young ladies heading towards them. The one on the left was a tall and fair-skinned woman with an athletic build, thigh-length wavy ebon hair and striking amber eyes. Her outfit consisted of a charcoal-black single-button vest over a cream-white sleeveless high-neck undershirt, white shorts with zippers running up the legs, a pair of black low-heeled boots and thighhigh black-to-purple gradient stockings. For accessories she had a black scarf around her neck, a ribbon done in the shape of a cats-ear bow on her head, a detached black sleeve with a silver cuff on her left arm and black ribbons wrapped around both forearms. A magnetic backpack strapped above her rear held the short-but-wide scabbard of her sheathed weapon, which appeared to have a pistol barrel built into the hilt.

Her partner was shorter with a more gymnastic body-type, with a tan complexion smattered with dark freckles, bluish-gray eyes and chestnut-brown hair tied into a high ponytail that curled a bit like a chameleon’s tail at her tail-bone. She was wearing a small black tailcoat jacket with gold zippers and small buckles to hold up her rolled-up sleeves, a gray cropped tank top that exposed her midriff, elastic gray shorts with plum-colored pouches along the sides and a pair of black low-heeled combat boots. Fastened to her left hip was a mechanical segmented whip-blade in the shape of a rapier with a large circular mechanism built into the hilt designed to take in up to two vials of dust and a pair of small triggers underneath it.

The amber-eyed girl was the one who spoke, holding another vial of pale blue Dust in her left hand. “Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest conglomerates of the world and the leading producer of energy propellants.”

The now-revealed heiress preened under the recognition, only to deflate with a scandalized expression as the freckled girl continued with a scathing tone, a reddish tint beginning to overtake her skin while her freckles and hair gained a slightly yellow hue: “The same company reviled for its monopolization attempts, under-the-table partnerships and downright abusive treatment of its employees, especially in regards to the faunus working the mines.”

“Ilia…”

The monochrome girl gave her partner, apparently named Ilia, a rather disapproving glare for her hostility as the heiress sputtered trying to find a retort. Eventually she settled for roughly snatching away the vial held in her hand and storming off, leaving her manservants to scramble after her. The trio of friends stared at Weiss’s retreating back, with Himi and Tyrell with expressions of disapproval and Ruby with lingering hurt. The red-headed man then scoffed. “Wow. She’s a bitch. Thanks for butting in to- oh... They just left too…“

Indeed, his attempt to thank the two died as they left almost immediately after, leaving the three behind. Himi just huffed at this development as she helped comfort Ruby. “I must say, as first impressions go, they left much to be desired. Hopefully not every student here is as full of short-tempered melodrama.”

The deadpan delivery of that jab sent the other two into chuckles. “Heh, thanks Himi. I needed that laugh. Hopefully it’s just first-day jitters that’s making everyone crabby.”

Tyrell than jolted a bit, as if he just had an epiphany. “Hey, I just remembered something. We’re supposed to head to the auditorium, right? Do either of you know where that is?”

The two girls turned towards each other before slowly panning their heads to him in slight embarrassment. “…No…? Didn’t the announcement say that they were handing out maps?”

“I think Yang was the one holding onto our maps.”

“…Oh goddamnit Yang…”


	3. Of Wanderings and Ribbings

“Is that it?”

“No, that’s a warehouse.”

“Is that?”

“That’s another warehouse.”

“How about here?”

“…Ruby, that’s a rock. That’s the same rock we’ve walked past three times now.”

“Uggghhrrghagh…”

And so the past hour was filled with exchanges much like that one between the trio: One of them vainly trying to identify which of the myriad buildings of Beacon was the auditorium with the other two pointing out why they were not.

After their fourth loop around to said rock, the sole male of the group throws up his hands. “Alright, fuck this shit. We’re getting nowhere here. Let’s just double back and ask for another map.”

Himi just glares back at him. “I suggested that right after we realized Yang had them, only you shot that down thinking the staff would chew you out and went ‘Oh, it shouldn’t be that hard to find some dumb building here,´ despite the fact it took you three months to memorize where our apartment building was, and none of us had ever been here before!”

“Hey! I’ll admit I let my pride get the better of me again, but it’s not my fault the builders here made all those apartments look the same!”

“You kept blundering into people’s houses by the train station! We live by the docks on the other side of the city!!”

“Eoleo once suggested we put a dog’s collar on you with the apartment’s address on it because of that.”

Caught off guard before she could try to stop the brewing fight, Ruby turns behind to see another three people had just joined them, two of which are instantly recognized by the bickering pair.

“Oh, Sveta! Rief!”

The one who spoke out is a young faunus woman of average height, lithe muscles and rather exotic features even by their standards, with long feline ears, a cat-like nose, and claws on her hands. Her outfit consists of a violet silk undershirt with long sleeves under a lavender blouse with white decorative trim and a maroon zodog jacket with tawny gold trimmings and roping modified at the sides to reach down to her hips. Her lower body is covered with violet silk leggings with maroon “sleeves” fastened over them with rope lacing, reaching from under her knees down to her ankles. She had forgone any footwear, revealing large paw-like feet with three toes and claws to match. Finally, a simple ring made of amegreen stone adorns her left ringfinger, her lilac hair was tied into twin braids that reached down to her hips, striking grass-green eyes flecked with steel grey and a look of fond exasperation on her face.

To her right is a smaller and leaner young man with pale skin, shoulder-length sea-blue hair and matching eyes shaking his head in amusement. His ensemble consists of a sky-blue tunic with azure trimming in a decorative triangular pattern underneath a matching robe, dark brown trousers and work boots. For accessories he wears dark grey gloves, a pair of small grey leather pauldrons on his shoulders, and large round-rim glasses, giving him a scholarly aura. Around his waist is a belt of satchels and pouches stuffed with unknown supplies, and fastened to his back is an azure metallic spear with a large triangle “cut out” of the base of the blade.

The last member of the trio is the same scraggly blonde boy that was feeling ill onboard the bullhead. Tall and lanky with fair skin and dark blue eyes, the young man is clad in a short-sleeved black hoodie with orange detached sleeves, blue denim jeans, black hightop sneakers and two brown belts criss-crossing over his waist. A silver-white breastplate coupled with a pair of metal spaulders and vambraces serve as his armor, with a mechanical sheath adorned with a crest composed of two pale yellow arcs over a circle, holding a simple arming sword attached to his left arm. He greets the lost group with a small wave and casual “hey”.

Tyrell proceeds to throw his head back in overexaggerated exasperation while Ruby and Himi giggle at the mental image. “Man, is this day just meant for making fun of me or something? Give me a break!”

The bluenette gives a small laugh in response. “To be fair, you tend to blunder about enough to deserve the ribbing. Although Himi isn’t without blame here either. Matthew and Karis both tried calling you about thirty minutes ago only to find you left your scrolls inside the suitcases.” He emphasizes this by pulling out the pair of said scrolls, causing Himi to flush and duck her head down in embarrassment.

The odd faunus girl then takes this moment to approach Ruby, placing one arm over the other and offering a small bow once she gets close. “Greetings. You must be Ruby. My name is Sveta, and the young man there is Rief. We’re part of Himi’s adoptive family. I must say, though you have only met once, she has spoken very fondly for you.”

Ruby just scratches the back of her head and shyly looks away, with Himi doing the same in the opposite direction. Tyrell then waves a hand to the blonde tagalong. “So who’s this guy? He get lost too?”

In response the blonde puffs out his chest in an attempt to look impressive. “What, me, lost? Never. And the name’s Jaune Arc. Short, sweet rolls off the tongue. Lady’s love it.”

“…do they?”

Ruby’s honest confusion coupled with Rief’s embarrassment sends Tyrell cackling, with Sveta and Himi giving giggling at how the now-named Jaune just deflates at the failure. “W-well, my mom said they will eventually…”

“We found him in a daze after he got shot down rather harshly by this aggravated snow-themed girl and had him come with us.”

Himi grimaces a bit at Rief’s explanation. “Did this girl happen to have long hair in a lopsided ponytail and a scar over her eye? If so we’ve had an encounter with her earlier as well. It was… not pleasant.”

Sveta lets out a huff. “I can imagine. Regardless, we should get going. The speech is set to start soon and I would rather we not get expelled before the first day.”

“Oh jeez, that would be bad. Let’s book it!”

“Ah, Ruby, wait! That’s not where to go!”  
\---  
After corralling Ruby back to follow the two that actually know the way there, the group finally sets off at a brisk pace. Along the way Ruby glances at Rief’s spear and initiates a conversation. “So, what kind of weapons do you guys have? Mine’s Crescent Rose, a combination mecha-shift scythe and high-impact sniper rifle!”

“A what?”

“It’s also a gun, Tyrell.”

“Oh.”

“Well, you have already seen my staff, Clotho’s Distaff, and my semblance that night. I can also wield a masterwork katana known as Masamune and a longbow made of tempered silver.”

“Take a right at this intersection, guys, then a left at the fountain. As for me, I prefer to use spears, staves and maces, with the spear I have here called Atropos’ Rod. I focus on rendering first aid however and mainly use my 'semblance' to keep foes at bay.”

“Ooh, what’s your semblance, Rief?”

“A mix of hydro- and cryokinesis like my cousin Amiti. He prefers to use liquid water while I tend to use ice.”

“Wow, that sounds pretty useful, actually! All I have is my family heirloom, Crocea Mors. The sheath can expand into a heater shield, but other than that it’s really simple. I… don’t have a semblance yet.”

“There’s no shame in that, Jaune. Plenty of hunters never unlock their semblance and yet still kick enough ass to be famous, like Mr. Peter Port, and he’s one of the professors here!”

“Wait, really?!”

“We’ve arrived.”

With Sveta’s announcement the group realizes that they did indeed arrive at the auditorium, with a large smattering of students mingling about the front of the building. A trio of said students on the right spot them and start waving them over, while Ruby spots a familiar length of wild blonde heading inside. “Ah, there’s my sister! Thanks for helping us get here, guys, I’ll see you inside! Hey Yang, wait a minute!!”

“I see the rest our family as well. It was nice meeting you, Jaune, and I wish you luck in initiation!”

Jaune is caught off guard by his friends’ sudden departures. “Ah, hey wait! Ah, now who am I supposed to talk to? I can’t tell who else would be friendly here or not!”

“Hm?”  
\---   
The rest of Himi’s family walked up to the group to meet them halfway. Leading the trio is a tall lithely-built man with blonds spiky hair, fair skin and steel-grey eyes flecked with green. He’s clad in a red vest under a dark-blue denim coat and matching pants, tanned leather boots and fingerless gloves, a leather belt holding several pouches and a slightly scuffed compass, and a battered yet well cared-for gold scarf. Strapped to his back is a large sheath holding a greatsword with a golden crossguard crafted into a sun motif. With an affectionate smile he gently embraces Sveta and kisses her on the forehead, a matching amegreen ring on his left hand shining as she returns the gesture.

Behind him is another somewhat thin man just slightly taller than Rief with pale skin, turquoise eyes and matching hair swept back in a low ponytail. His outfit consists of an open navy blue nehru jacket over a pale-gold shawl and an orange silk shirt, a navy blue sarong with gold trimming and dark brown leather sandals. He has a worn-yet-ornate cobalt-and-gold headband and pale-gold bead necklace for accessories, and a hand-and-a-half straightsword with a pale gold pommel and crossguard sheathed on his left. He has a fairly content expression as his right arm is entwined with the last member of the group.

Said member is a young lady with long emerald-green hair tied into a high ponytail, fair skin and amethyst eyes. Her choice of fashion is a pale white tunic with gold trimmings over a pink silk blouse, matching bridal gauntlets and knee-high boots and brown pantyhose stockings, accentuated with a pair of jade bracelets, gold teardrop earrings and a small purple cape. Despite leaning her head on her partner’s shoulder she has an exasperated expression as she makes eye-contact with Tyrell. “I’m starting to think you enjoy getting lost on purpose at this point. Eoleo’s collar joke might actually have merit.”

“Oh, can we not, Karis? Everybody’s been giving me shit about that today.”

“Not until it’s drilled into your head.”

“Now now, the commencement speech is starting and Tyrell’s been grilled enough. We can save the ribbing for later.”

“Thank you, Rief. I think.”

As the eclectic family head inside the other blue-haired man nods his head towards Jaune looking slightly lost. “I assume you all made another friend on the way here?”

Tyrell’s eyes follows the man’s gesture as he answers. “Sort of. His name is Jaune Arc. Apparently Sveta and Rief found him after he got shot down when he tried to get a date with-“

“You!! We could’ve been blown off the cliff because of you!”

“Oh jeez it’s happening again!”

“Oh wow, you actually exploded.”

“-…that bitch. Oh what the fuck is she doing now?!”

“Becoming an annoyance that needs to be dealt with.”

“W-wait, Tyrell! Himi! This is not the place to start a fight!”

“But that impudent, entitled brat is harassing Ruby over an accident she caused! Am I supposed to tolerate that?!”

“No, but the other lady over there is already trying to diffuse the argument. I appreciate you wanting to help your friend and humble this ‘brat’, I want to as well, but if we go over there she’ll see it as being ganged up on and just make things worse.”

Any retort to that died as a rhythmic tapping from the speakers grabs everyone’s attention. Looking to the stage they see Glynda Goodwitch and Headmaster Ozpin next to the microphone. As Ozpin clears his throat to start giving the commencement, the group hears a moan and snap their focus towards a swooning Sveta and her lover, looking pained like they’re suddenly suffering a migraine. Karis, Tyrell and Amiti dash forward to catch and stabilize the pair.

“Aw jeez, Sveta! Matthew! You guys doing alright?”

Fortunately the two recover quickly from the sudden ‘attack’, Sveta gently prying Karis’s hands away. “Ah! W-we’re fine, Karis. Just… caught off guard by something.”

“Caught off guard? By-“

“Not now. It can wait.”

“But-“

“Please. We’re not in danger, I promise. We just can’t talk about it now.”

Grimacing at Matthew’s soft-spoken command and reassurances, the group nonetheless drops the issue for now, worried looks on their faces as they turn back to catch the tail end of the headmaster’s speech. All the while an unheard conversation goes on between the two in question.

'''Matthew, we need to be careful here. The headmaster here…'''

'''I know, Sveta. As well-meaning as he seems, someone with a spirit as ancient and cursed like that is someone to be leery of.'''

**Author's Note:**

> Another cross-post from FF.net. Don't expect updates in a timely manner for my muse is a bastard.


End file.
